AN: Woohoo, we made it to 50! Thanks for coming all this way :]

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So it goes a little something like this:

 

Elves? They serve a Spirit, no matter what kind of elf that they might be. Wood? Fire? It’s obvious what Spirit those serve, right? And these ‘wild-folk’ (which I had to super quick ask Til for the rundown on and found out were just animal people or whatever) were created by the Spirit of the Wind it turns out. Guess almost everything furry belongs to that one. Really good to know. But the humans? Humans are a joint creation from when all the Spirits had first taken over. Everybody’s hand was in the pot! And since that’s the case, no one faction really owns them unless the humans go out of their way to pledge allegiance to them.

 

So yeah, apparently the Elders think that I’m so different from everything they know because I came from what they consider to be a ‘blank slate’.

 

“You have to understand, L’Lan’e’frea; Those who serve a Spirit usually have an unwavering loyalty to it, and are inherently influenced by its wishes. And you, a L’Lan’e’frea, most of all should have been imprinted by the Spirit to uphold its ideals. You should have a territory, an insatiable desire to remove anyone or anything that does not follow the Spirit of the Forest, and most of all you should not be able to converse in the way that you do. ...You say you’ve been wandering the forest for how long exactly?”

 

=Ummm, I guess almost a year now maybe? I lost track a couple of times…=

 

“Only a year… And would you say you’ve always had this, erm, personality?”

 

Ohhh man, I can really hear some distaste in your words there, sir. I take it you don’t like this ‘personality’ of mine very much! Hmph... Aaaah, just calm down, plant! This isn’t the time for this! Much more important issues and all that. Just let it go.

 

=...Yes, the whole time.=

 

The other female Elder spoke up this time. Apparently she’d managed to regain her nerve.

 

“Hmm, that is indeed quite odd. L’Lan’e’frea aren’t known for having such thoughts and eccentricities, especially not when so underdeveloped; It’s rare to find any who ever develop such personal thoughts outside of natural instinct, after all.”

 

Yeah okay, so I’m smart! Thanks! I don’t know why you guys have to phrase it like I’m some kind of freak or whatever, but-

 

“Surely this must be because the host body, your ‘mom’ as you called it, was human.”

 

“Yes, it truly must. Humans do not feel the sway of the Spirits, after all. It would seem that instead of being naturally imprinted with the Spirit’s will for your kind, you were instead naturally imprinted by the personality of the woman you grew from.”

 

Til, who’d been listening intently next to me, ran a hand over the small stubble of hair that lined his jaw and mumbled to himself.

 

“...That explains why you didn’t know what you naturally should have… And why you had to ask me so many questions.”

 

Yeah, it really does explain a lot to me too. I guess it’s not that my mom was supposed to be holding up a sign explaining all this crap to me while I was growing like I once said before; She probably wouldn’t have known about it either, being human and all!

 

Actually, you know what? There’s a part of this whole thing that’s been bugging me like crazy since they said it to me. If I got my personality from my mom… Then that probably means that I got all of my memories from her too, right? But I don’t have a single memory of what her life was like while she was in this world. I only have memories of…

 

…Does that mean all the memories that I have of being human in another world aren’t really mine either?

Was I... actually never even human?

Have I just been believing a lie this whole time?

Am I not really who I’ve been thinking I am?

Am I not really… me?

 

…It almost makes me wish that I’d just been imprinted by the Forest Spirit like I was supposed to be, instead of having to wonder such things.

 

It was Til, used to my actions and ways at this point, who noticed how absolutely glum and confused I was feeling. He reached out to gently pat at my further away shoulder in a calming way. It felt like he could have tugged me into a hug at any moment. And the voice that he talked to me with was so gentle and soothing that it honestly helped to make me feel a little bit better.

 

“...Is there anything you’d like to do now that you know?”

 

=Mmm… I kind of wish I was just a simple corpse plant, now…=

 

At least then I wouldn’t have to deal with this odd little existential surprise I was now facing.

 

Til’s hand on my shoulder gained strength for a moment, and I was sure that he was going to finally pull me in for that hug, but instead he just sighed and bent over towards me a bit so I could get a better look at his face.

 

“Well then why don’t you just do what a L’Lan’e’frea is meant to do? It’s not like you suddenly no longer belong to the Spirit of the Forest, and it’s not like you ceased to be what you are. You’re now fully aware of what your instincts were supposed to be telling you to do all this time, so why not just go and play along? If you end up disliking it, you can stop at any time and go do something different.”

 

Hmmm...? You know what, I think Til actually has a really good point! Why not go and play along with how things are supposed to be? Just because I think a bit more than the others doesn’t mean that I can’t do what all of them have successfully done! It’s not like this personality and memories that I got from mom are gonna stop me from being a successful corpse plant! Really, there’s absolutely nothing standing in my way! If anything, I could make even better choices than someone who’s just blindly following their instincts! I’ll be the biggest, baddest, scariest corpse plant, and all the Spirits will be amazed by me!

 

=Yeah! Yeah, I think you’re right, Til! I think I will do that!=

 

“Great.”

 

Til gave me a smile so soft, comfortable and radiant that I completely forgot what else I was going to say.

Curse you mom, for giving me such preferences!

 

“So then, what will you do first? Do you plan to get a territory?”

 

Oh huh, he’s right; I guess the first thing I need to do as a freshly reinstated corpse plant is get a territory, huh?

 

=Yeah, that’s definitely what has to happen first, right?=

 

“Are there any good places that you have in mind? Any that feel like they’d make for a nice territory?”

 

=Hrmm…=

 

You know, ever since the topic of territories first came up, I’ve thought about it again and again. There were definitely times throughout my short life that I’ve been to places and thought that they might make a good home for me, but now that I’ve learned more about what a territory is and even actually seen one, I’ve gotta say… All those places are actually way too small! That little cave, the hotspring clearing with the gigantic capybaras, even that orc town that I wiped out… All of those spots just aren’t big enough to be called a territory in their own right. And when I consider the areas around those places… Honestly I think I could do better.

 

You know, I really hate to say it, but-

 

=If I had to pick a place, I’d just say the forest itself is my territory.=

 

The face of every elf in the room immediately froze.

 

...I guess that’s not something that you’re supposed to say?

But I really feel like that, though…

 

“Could it be…?”

 

“It’s impossible…”

 

“Perhaps the reason why the L’Lan’e’frea never settled down is..?”

 

“But there’s no way that such a young L’Lan’e’frea…”

 

“Do you think that perhaps the prophecy…?”

 

At the mention of the prophecy, Til straightened himself up and tugged on my arm, escorting me out of the little willow tree we were once again having our meeting in. I followed him quietly, even as we kept walking deeper and deeper into the forest, but when Til still showed no signs of stopping to talk to me, I dug my roots in and stopped him myself. He looked back at me, surprised by the strong tug that he experienced, but soon Til quickly bowed his head to me in apology, and then tentatively took hold of two of my nearby tentacles as if he were holding my hands.

 

“L’Lan’e’frea, did you truly mean it? Do you truly want to make the forest your territory?”

 

=Hmm? Yeah, I guess I sort of do.=

 

Til looked conflicted for a moment, but then sighed and tilted back his head.

 

“...I thought you were serious too, but I didn’t want to believe it.”

 

What, is wanting to own the forest such a bad thing? I get that it’s like a toddler telling you that they wanna grow up to be a king or something one day out of the blue, but I don’t think it’s bad to be ambitious even if it is a little far fetched, you know?

 

I guess even if my face doesn’t show it, Til still knows me well enough to notice a bit of what I’m thinking now, so he gave me one more super deep sigh and brought his face a little closer to mine.

 

“I haven't told you about the prophecy yet, have I?”